The Sinnoh Region: Mount Coronet, the Three Lakes and the Cosmogony of Arceus

A region split in two by a mountain, three lakes forming a perfect triangle around its summit, and a myth that tells not the birth of a region but that of the entire universe. Sinnoh is the most mythological of the Pokémon regions: Arceus hatches there from an Egg that appeared in the void and creates time and space, and one day a criminal organization decides to run the whole operation again.

Contents

• A Continent Split in Two by Mount Coronet
• Eighteen Towns, a Series Record
• The Eight Gyms, All on the Mainland
• The Sinnoh League and Cynthia
• Team Galactic Wants to Remake the World
• Arceus, Time, Space and the Three Spirits
• A Generation That Catches Up with the Past
• Sinnoh in the Anime
• Where to Explore Sinnoh Today
• Sinnoh at a Glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

A Continent Split in Two by Mount Coronet

Mount Coronet runs right across Sinnoh and splits it into two halves, which you can only link up by going through it. It's the clearest layout in the entire series: the region reads like the two pages of an open book, with its spine in the middle.

Sinnoh is also the coldest of the regions, temperate in the south and downright polar in the north, where constant snowstorms sweep the outskirts of Snowpoint City. The characters all wear scarves, a detail the series had never needed to bother with before.

🧣 If Sinnoh's characters all wear scarves, it's because Snowpoint City's snowstorms are no joke: our Pokémon sweaters and hoodies play the same role in your winter.

Pokémon iPhone Case - Arceus (Data Card)

Pokémon iPhone Case - Arceus (Data Card)

€29.90View product →

Unlike Hoenn, most of Sinnoh's thirty routes are on land — only a few sea channels remain — but they're winding, mountainous, rainy or snowbound. The region is made up of a mainland and several islands, to the northeast and to the west.

Three lakes hold a special place there. Lake Valor, Lake Acuity and Lake Verity form a triangle whose exact center is occupied by Spear Pillar, at the summit of Mount Coronet. This triangle is no accident of the map: it's depicted in the region's myths and engraved into the ground at Spear Pillar.

Eighteen Towns, a Series Record

Sinnoh has fourteen cities and towns, plus three "areas" and its League, for a total of eighteen inhabited locations — the most of any Pokémon region. The Fight Area, Survival Area and Resort Area aren't towns strictly speaking but tourist destinations, located off the mainland.

Twinleaf Town is the starting village, and it's in Sandgem Town that Professor Rowan hands the hero their first Pokémon. The adventure actually opens with a TV news report: a red Gyarados spotted in a lake, a direct echo of Johto.

Jubilife City is Sinnoh's largest city, with its tower, its TV studios and its Trainers' School. Veilstone City is the big port city of the east, and Hearthome City stands out for its cathedral and its Contest Hall.

The villages matter for their symbolic weight. Floaroma Town owes its blooms to a thank-you offered to nature — a legend attributed to Shaymin; Celestic Town houses the historical research center that preserves the region's myths; Solaceon Town has its ruins, and Snowpoint City its temple.

The Eight Gyms, All on the Mainland

Sinnoh is the first region where every Gym is on the main island, with no island detours. The circuit opens in Oreburgh City, a mining town, where Roark defends the Coal Badge with the Rock type. How each circuit works is detailed in our guide to the Gym Leaders and Elite Four.

Gardenia holds Eterna City and the Forest Badge with the Grass type, Maylene the Cobble Badge in Veilstone City with Fighting, and Crasher Wake the Fen Badge in Pastoria City with Water. Fantina, in Hearthome City, defends the Relic Badge with the Ghost type.

The second half gets noticeably tougher. Byron holds the Mine Badge in Canalave City with the Steel type, Candice the Icicle Badge in Snowpoint City with Ice, and Volkner the Beacon Badge in Sunyshore City with Electric. Sunyshore City is where you set out for the League, sailing north up a channel.

Sinnoh's Victory Road has a well-earned reputation: it requires one of your Pokémon to have learned Waterfall, and without it there's no getting through. Few regions demand such a late-game move as the price of entry to their own League.

🏅 From Roark's Coal Badge to Volkner's Beacon Badge, Sinnoh lines up eight of them to win: our Pokémon crests and patches go on your jacket or your bag instead.

The Sinnoh League and Cynthia

Sinnoh's Elite Four brings together Aaron, Bertha, Flint and Lucian — specialists in the Bug, Ground, Fire and Psychic types, respectively. The League sits at the far eastern end of the region, at the end of Victory Road.

At the top stands Cynthia, and she left a lasting mark on an entire generation of players. Her team is reputed to be the toughest ever thrown at a player at the end of an adventure, and she's more than just an opponent: you cross paths with her throughout the story, where she acts as a guide and a counterweight to Team Galactic's ambitions.

Cynthia is also the most well-traveled Champion. The series has brought her back in several regions and several generations, which makes her the most recurring League character in the franchise, far beyond her own home region.

Team Galactic Wants to Remake the World

Team Galactic is nothing like a trafficking ring. Its leader, Cyrus, wants neither money nor power: he considers this world defective, ruled by spirit and emotion, and intends to create a new one — free of both.

Its plan runs through the lakes, then through the mountain. It first captures Uxie, Mesprit and Azelf, the three spirits sleeping at the bottom of the lakes, to forge the Red Chain; then it uses the Chain at Spear Pillar to summon Dialga or Palkia, the masters of time and space.

In Pokémon Platinum, the operation goes off the rails. Cyrus accidentally opens a portal to the Distortion World above Mount Coronet. The portal is sealed again, but a passage remains deep inside Turnback Cave — and that's where the series introduced one of its strangest dimensions, where gravity itself stops following the rules.

Arceus, Time, Space and the Three Spirits

The Sinnoh myth is the creation story of the entire Pokémon universe. Deep in the void, an Egg appears, and from it hatches Arceus, the first Pokémon. It creates Dialga and Palkia, to whom it gives time and space; Giratina is born at the same time but is banished to another dimension for its violence. Our feature on regional legends sets this story alongside other creation myths.

Then come the three spirits. Azelf carries willpower, Uxie knowledge and Mesprit emotion, and Arceus tasks them with passing these on to humans and Pokémon alike. Their mission accomplished, each one dives to the bottom of a lake: Lake Valor, Lake Acuity and Lake Verity.

The region itself is the final act of creation. Arceus shapes Sinnoh around Mount Coronet; Stark Mountain forms during this violent process, and Heatran is born there in the lava. Finally, Arceus forges the Adamant Orb, the Lustrous Orb and the Griseous Orb before falling into an endless sleep in the Hall of Origin.

Sinnoh has fourteen Legendary and Mythical Pokémon, the highest total in the series at the time. Alongside the masters of time and space and the lake trio come Heatran, Regigigas and Cresselia, then the Mythicals Manaphy, Phione, Darkrai, Shaymin and Arceus. The full classification is explained in our guide to Legendary and Mythical Pokémon.

A Generation That Catches Up with the Past

The fourth generation adds 107 species and brings the National Pokédex to 493. What sets it apart is less the number than the nature of these additions: Sinnoh is the region of retroactive evolutions and pre-evolutions, which complete families left unfinished since Kanto.

The three starters are Turtwig, Chimchar and Piplup. You'll find the details of each regional trio in our feature on the starters. Above all, the generation brings a fundamental overhaul of the battle system: the split between physical and special moves, which no longer depends on type.

Sinnoh also has a playable past. The region was once called Hisui, and Pokémon Legends: Arceus sets its adventure there centuries before the events of Diamond and Pearl — back when humans and Pokémon did not yet live together.

Sinnoh in the Anime

Sinnoh takes up four full seasons, the entire Diamond & Pearl series: season 10, 11, 12 and 13. It's Ash's longest stay in any single region.

📺 Rewatching Ash's time in Sinnoh means binging seasons 10 through 13 without skipping one: set up one of our Pokémon throw blankets on your couch before you start the first episode.

That's where Dawn joins the journey, on her very first day as a Trainer, and where Paul establishes himself as the toughest rival in the series. Their six-on-six battle at Lake Acuity remains one of the most talked-about battles in the anime.

The series also produced three feature films, including The Rise of Darkrai in Alamos Town and Arceus and the Jewel of Life in Michina Town — two towns invented for the big screen. It's all laid out in our guide to all the seasons.

Where to Explore Sinnoh Today

You can explore Sinnoh in two original games and two remakes. Pokémon Diamond and Pearl launched it on the Nintendo DS, Pokémon Platinum offers the enhanced version with the Distortion World, and Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl bring it back on the Nintendo Switch.

It's the only region that also exists in its own past. Pokémon Legends: Arceus takes place in Hisui — in other words, Sinnoh before the towns, before the Gyms and before the League. The comparison of the two Pokémon Legends games details what this formula changes.

Platinum remains the go-to version for anyone who wants to see everything: it's the only one with the Distortion World, the full Battle Frontier and the battle against Giratina in its Origin Forme. The full order of the saga is traced in our guide to all the games.

Sinnoh at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Why is Sinnoh split in two?
  Because of Mount Coronet, a mountain range that cuts right across the region. You can only get from one half to the other by crossing it. At its summit lies Spear Pillar, the place where Team Galactic tries to summon the masters of time and space.
• What do Sinnoh's three lakes represent?
  Lake Valor, Lake Acuity and Lake Verity are home to Azelf, Uxie and Mesprit, the three spirits Arceus created to carry willpower, knowledge and emotion. Connected by lines, the three lakes form a triangle whose exact center is occupied by Spear Pillar — a pattern engraved into the ground there.
• What does Team Galactic want?
  To destroy this world and create another, free of spirit and emotion. Its leader, Cyrus, captures the lake trio to forge the Red Chain, then uses it at Spear Pillar to summon Dialga or Palkia. It isn't a profit-driven organization: it's an ideological project.
• What's the difference between Sinnoh and Hisui?
  It's the same region in two different eras. Hisui is the name Sinnoh went by centuries earlier, before the towns, the Gyms and the League existed, and before humans and Pokémon lived together. Pokémon Legends: Arceus takes place there.
• Who is the Champion of the Sinnoh League?
  Cynthia, preceded by the Elite Four of Aaron, Bertha, Flint and Lucian. Her team is reputed to be the toughest ever thrown at the player at the end of an adventure, and she's part of the story long before the final battle.
• What is the Distortion World?
  A parallel dimension where gravity and perspective stop following the rules, and Giratina's domain. It was introduced in Pokémon Platinum, when Cyrus accidentally opens a portal above Mount Coronet. A passage then remains deep inside Turnback Cave.
• How many towns does Sinnoh have?
  Fourteen cities and towns, plus three "areas" located off the mainland — Fight, Survival and Resort — and the League, for a total of eighteen inhabited locations. That's the highest number of any Pokémon region.

In short

Sinnoh is the region where the series stopped telling the story of a country and started telling the story of a world. An Egg in the void, time and space entrusted to two creatures, three spirits at the bottom of three lakes: no other region reaches back so far, and none makes a fourteen-year-old adventurer the witness to its own creation story.

It's also the only region you can visit in two different eras, under its modern name as well as under the name Hisui. To see where it fits among the others, our overview of the regions of the Pokémon world; to explore it, our guide to all the games.